Fuel Price Row: PENGASSAN May Halt Dangote Refinery

Tension is mounting in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to shut down operations at the Dangote Refinery following the dismissal of hundreds of workers.

The union raised the alarm in a statement issued on Friday by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, after reports emerged that the refinery had laid off more than 800 Nigerian employees shortly after they joined the association. PENGASSAN warned it would consider all available options if the company failed to reinstate the affected workers, stressing that the crisis could trigger a fresh hike in petrol prices if unresolved.

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Responding to the claims, Dangote Group confirmed the dismissals but described the number affected as “very small.” The company explained that the action was taken to protect the $20 billion, 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery from what it termed “repeated acts of sabotage.” However, it declined to disclose the specific offences committed by those dismissed.

In a separate development, a viral letter from some of the sacked workers accused the refinery of victimisation, alleging that they were targeted simply for exercising their constitutional right to union membership.

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PENGASSAN further alleged that the company had replaced the dismissed Nigerian workers with about 2,000 expatriates from India. The union announced it has convened an emergency National Executive Council meeting to determine its next steps in addressing what it described as an unfair labour practice.